JP2000255722A - Automated storage - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a warehousing port from being blocked with articles when there is an article whose intrinsic information cannot be confirmed, by detecting abnormality in the intrinsic information, when normal warehousing is impossible, recording that the article causes abnormality, and temporally warehousing it by designating the temporary warehousing destiny. SOLUTION: An abnormality detection part 38 detects abnormality in intrinsic information (ID), a temporary intrinsic information (dummy ID) providing part 40 provides an original ID with a dummy ID which expresses to be the dummy ID and the dummy ID having an identifier expressing abnormal contents attached thereto, and has an identifier expressing abnormal contents attached thereto. An abnormal quality control part 42 writes a temporary warehousing destiny of an article with ID abnormality and the dummy ID in a rack file, etc., of a storage and retrieval computer 34, and a crane control part 36 temporally warehouses the article into the assigned temporary warehousing destiny. The abnormal quality control part 42 retrieves the rack files except for this, delivers abnormal articles to a manual warehousing/delivery port, and restores through dialogue via a terminal 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic warehouse, and more particularly to an automatic warehouse.
Regarding the processing of the D abnormality.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an automatic warehouse, articles provided with IDs (unique information) are taken in and out of the warehouse. Then, the ID is read at the time of storage, the ID of the stored article is received from an unmanned transport vehicle or the like that has conveyed the article, and the ID is compared with the ID read from the article, and the ID is transmitted to a host computer that manages general logistics inside and outside the warehouse. Notify that goods with the item will be stored and request permission. The purpose of collating the ID with an automatic guided vehicle or the like is to check that a predetermined article has been conveyed, and to request permission from the host computer, it is necessary to report the current location of this article and In order to be able to track the movement of the article.

[0003] If any abnormality occurs in the above-described confirmation operation using the ID, the article cannot be stored, and the article is stagnated at the entrance or refused to enter from an automatic guided vehicle or the like, and personnel are required to recover the abnormality. Will be transported to the waiting station. Even if an article with an abnormal ID is left at the entrance, the effect is small if the attendant immediately tracks the cause of the abnormality and can recover. However, during this time, subsequent articles cannot be stored, and the function of the automatic warehouse deteriorates. In particular, in a situation such as a clean room where a clerk cannot be expected to always be on standby, the function of the automatic warehouse is stopped for a long time. An automatic warehouse in a clean room is incorporated in a manufacturing process of semiconductors, electronic components, and the like. If the automatic warehouse stops, production stops.

FIG. 8 shows a process in the prior art when there is an abnormality in the unique information. At the entrance of the automated warehouse, the unique information of the articles transported from the automatic guided vehicle or the overhead traveling cart to the entrance is read by a barcode reader or an ID reader, and collated with the ID transmitted from the automated guided vehicle, It asks the host computer for the availability of storage, and when the storage is permitted, the storage is performed for the first time. During this period, if there is an abnormality such as an ID reading error, a mismatch in the ID collation result, or an inability to obtain a storage permit from the host computer, the storage will be impossible.
An alarm is displayed at the entrance, and the entrance remains closed until the cause of the abnormality is confirmed and recovered.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to prevent a storage function of an automatic warehouse from being stopped when an abnormality occurs in unique information of an article (claims 1 to 3). An additional object of the invention according to claim 2 is to facilitate management and recovery of an abnormal article. An additional object of the third aspect of the present invention is to enable quick recovery from an abnormality.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided an automatic warehouse in which unique information is confirmed at an entrance and goods are stored in a control unit of the automatic warehouse. An automatic warehouse provided with an abnormal product management means for recording the article that has detected an abnormality and its temporary storage destination. The automatic warehouse of the present invention is suitable for an automatic warehouse for a clean room, but is not limited to this.

[0007] Preferably, provision is made for provisional temporary information provision means for provisional provision of specific information including data of the type of abnormality to the abnormal product. More preferably, an entry / exit port provided with the terminal of the control unit is provided in the automatic warehouse, and the article to which the temporary unique information is added is exited from the entry / exit port.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when there is an abnormality with respect to the unique information of the stored article and normal storage cannot be performed, the abnormality of the unique information is detected by the abnormality detecting means, and the abnormal article is detected. After recording that there is, a temporary storage destination is specified and a temporary storage is performed. For this reason, even if there is an article whose unique information cannot be confirmed, the entrance will not be blocked by the article. Further, since the temporarily stored articles are recorded as being abnormal, the articles can be managed separately from other articles.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, provisional unique information (dummy ID) is given to an article in which an abnormality of unique information (ID) is detected so that the article can be distinguished from other articles. Since the temporary unique information includes the data of the type of the abnormality, the content of the detected abnormality can be easily managed, and the recovery from the abnormality becomes easy.

[0010] According to the third aspect of the present invention, an entry / exit port provided with a terminal is provided in an automatic warehouse, and an article to which temporary unique information is added is ejected. Then, the details of the abnormality are manually checked using a terminal, and a recovery measure is determined by communication with a host computer or the like, so that recovery is easy. In addition, since the vehicle exits at a specific entrance / exit, it is possible to wait until a clerk appears without blocking other entrances / exits.

[0011]

1 to 7 show an embodiment. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the automatic warehouse 2. Numeral 4 denotes a conveying means such as a stacker crane, and a pair of shelves 6 and 7 are provided on both sides thereof. Instead of such an automatic warehouse, an automatic warehouse or the like in which articles are stored on patrol shelves may be used. 8 is an automatic guided vehicle 18
, 9 is an exit to the automatic guided vehicle 18, 10 is an entrance from the overhead traveling vehicle 20, and 11 is an exit to the overhead traveling vehicle 20. Reference numeral 12 denotes a manual entry / exit port, which is a transfer port for manual transfer by a hand cart or the like. 14 is a means for reading the ID of the article, such as a bar code reader,
Each of the entrances 8, 10, and 14 is provided, and 16 also serves as a terminal of a warehouse computer for controlling an automatic warehouse. At the terminal 16, any command can be issued within a range related to the automatic warehouse 2, such as searching for records in the host computer, changing or canceling a temporary ID (dummy ID) assigned to the item, and changing a command to transfer the item. The automatic warehouse 2 is installed in a clean room such as a semiconductor factory and is used as a storage place for work in process between processes, and the warehouse is basically unmanned by an unmanned transport vehicle 18 or an overhead traveling vehicle 20 or the like. .

FIG. 2 shows a container 22 containing a semiconductor substrate or the like.
Shows the barcode 24 of the ID attached to. FIG. 3 shows a control system of the automatic warehouse 2. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 30 denotes a host computer which manages distribution in a semiconductor factory, which is connected to a warehouse computer 34 or the like by a LAN, 36 controls a crane 4 by a crane control unit, and 16 denotes a terminal, for example, the above-mentioned manual operation. The terminal is installed at the exit 12 and has no restrictions on processing items as far as the automatic warehouse 2 is concerned, and includes a display unit, a keyboard, and the like. Reference numeral 14 denotes a bar code reader provided at each of the entrances 8, 10, and 12, which is already shown in FIG.

[0013] If the ID is abnormal, the bar code reader 14
Reading permission at the time of reading, the ID transmitted from the automatic guided vehicle 18 or the overhead traveling vehicle 20 does not match the read ID, or the reading permission does not match the moving route of the container 22 on the host computer. Are not available, and the IDs are duplicated such that the same ID is duplicated in the automatic warehouse 2. When these abnormalities are notified to the abnormality detection unit 38, the abnormality detection unit 3
Numeral 8 detects an abnormality, and the dummy ID assigning section 40 assigns a dummy ID obtained by adding an identifier indicating the dummy ID and the content of the abnormality to the original ID to the article having the ID abnormality. If an identifier of the content of the abnormality is added, it is automatically recognized that the ID is a dummy ID, and the identifier of the dummy ID need not be provided. Further, the abnormal product management unit 42 writes the temporary storage destination and the dummy ID of the article with the ID abnormality in a shelf file or the like of the warehouse computer 34, and
6 temporarily stores the article in the designated temporary storage destination. In addition, the abnormal product management unit 42 searches for a shelf file, retrieves the abnormal product to the manual entry / exit port 12, and performs an interactive recovery via the terminal 16.

An automatic guided vehicle computer 44, an overhead traveling vehicle computer 46, and the like are connected to the LAN 32, and collation of IDs and inquiries to the host computer 30 are performed via the LAN 32.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a dummy ID.
D50 indicates that the original ID is a dummy and the cause of the abnormality (I
D reading failure). In the case of ID reading failure, since the original ID is unknown, an ID appropriately issued in the automatic warehouse 2 (for example, the date and time of issuing the ID, the type and number of the transport device that has entered the warehouse, etc.) is used for this part. The configuration of the dummy ID is arbitrary, but preferably includes two types of data for specifying the type (content) of the abnormality and data for specifying the article. Dummy I
D50 may or may not be written on the article 22.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a shelf file of the warehouse computer 34. The shelf file contains, for each shelf address of the shelves 6 and 7, the ID of the contained article (the article and the container 22 are 1: 1).
In this case, the ID of the container 22), the type of the transport means that has transported the article to the automatic warehouse 2 (entry destination), the transport means of the destination and the number of the outlet are recorded. Of these, the entry destination, exit destination, exit port, etc. may not be recorded. For articles with abnormal IDs, the dummy ID assigning section 40
In addition, the dummy ID 50 assigned in step 2 is recorded, and the fact that the delivery destination is the manual exit 12 and the restoration process is not performed in the manual exit 12 is recorded. In the shelf file, data that can be used as a reference for identifying an article having an abnormal ID and returning the article to an authorized transport path is recorded. For example, the type of transport means (in this case, an overhead traveling vehicle) that transported the article in question and its number, the number of the entrance used for storage, the storage date and time, the ID transmitted from the transport means in the case of ID verification failure, etc. It is. Note that the dummy ID is not assigned, and the original ID is used for convenience.
Even when the shelf file has the ID of an abnormal product and the identifier of the type of the abnormality, the article can be identified and the type of the abnormality can be identified.

FIG. 6 shows processing up to the detection of an ID error and temporary storage, and FIG. 7 shows recovery at the manual entry / exit port 12. ID
The reader 14 reads an ID such as a barcode 24 at the entrance, and if reading is impossible, assigns a dummy ID indicating an ID reading error. When the ID is read, the automatic guided vehicle 18
The ID is transmitted from the transportation means such as the overhead traveling vehicle 20 or the like, and is compared with the read ID. If the collation results do not match, a dummy ID for abnormal collation is assigned. Next, automatic warehouse 2
It is checked whether the IDs are duplicated in the inside or the like. If the IDs are duplicated, a dummy ID having an ID duplication abnormality is assigned. The range of checking for ID duplication is arbitrary, such as in the automatic warehouse 2 or in all distribution routes. If the process has proceeded normally up to this point, the host computer 30 is inquired as to whether the article with this ID can be stored. Then, an article having no abnormality with respect to these four checks is regularly stored, and a normal ID is recorded in the shelf file.

As described above, there are a plurality of ID inspection items. If at least one of the items is abnormal, a dummy ID is assigned, and the subsequent inspection is omitted. Decision, temporary storage, and the above-mentioned recording in the shelf file.

The abnormal product management unit 42 searches for a file in which inventory such as a shelf file is recorded, searches for the presence or absence of inventory to which a dummy ID is assigned, requests the crane control unit 36, and sends it to the manual entry / exit port 12. Temporary delivery. At the manual entry / exit port 12, the fact that the ID abnormal product has been dispatched is displayed on the terminal 16 or the like, and waits for the attendant to recover. The clerk: 1) rereads the ID with the barcode reader 14; 2) reads the ID (dummy ID) with the barcode reader
50) to the host computer 30.
And 3) transmitting other related data recorded on the shelf file (such as the type of transport means used for storage, the storage date and time, etc.) to the host computer 30. In the case of an ID collation error, the ID transmitted by the transport unit is also transmitted to the host computer 30. On the other hand, the host computer 30 searches the transfer command file (all the transfer commands recorded so as to specify the transfer route and the article), and
If the true ID can be specified, the true ID is transmitted. In this case, re-transportation to the next transport destination or measures such as stocking in the automatic warehouse 2 are specified. Along with this, if a true ID is input from the terminal 16 or the transmission of the ID or the like from the host computer 30 is confirmed, the recovery ends. If recovery is not possible, the host computer 30 instructs transportation to an inspection room or the like, whereby the processing in the automatic warehouse 2 ends.

As described above, in the embodiment, even if an article with an ID or more occurs, the entrances 8, 10 and the like of the automatic warehouse 2 are not blocked, and other subsequent automatic guided vehicles are congested. There is no. In addition, since a dummy ID is assigned and the goods are temporarily stored,
The abnormal goods can be easily managed in the automatic warehouse 2 and the recovery is performed at the manual entry / exit port 12, so that it is possible to wait until a staff member appears. At the time of recovery, the details of the error are displayed,
Using the data related to the dummy ID, the data can be easily restored.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an automatic warehouse according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a container provided with an ID in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a control system of an automatic warehouse in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data configuration of a dummy ID in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing recording in a shelf file on an article having a dummy ID in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating assignment of a dummy ID and provisional storage in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a recovery process for a dummy ID according to the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing for a dummy ID in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Automated warehouse 4 Stacker crane 6,7 Shelf 8-12 Entry / exit port 14 Barcode reader 16 Terminal 18 Automatic guided vehicle 20 Overhead traveling vehicle 22 Container 24 Barcode 30 Host computer 32 LAN 34 Warehouse computer 36 Crane control unit 38 Abnormality detection Unit 40 Dummy ID assigning unit 42 Abnormal product management unit 44 Automated guided vehicle computer 46 Overhead traveling vehicle computer 50 Dummy ID

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An automatic warehouse in which articles are received by checking unique information at an entrance of a warehouse, a control unit of the automatic warehouse detects a means for detecting an abnormality of the unique information, and detects an abnormality. An automatic warehouse provided with an abnormal product management means for recording the goods that have been replaced and their temporary storage destinations. 2. The automatic warehouse according to claim 1, further comprising temporary unique information providing means for providing temporary unique information including data of the type of the abnormality to the article in which the abnormality is detected. 3. An automatic warehouse, wherein an entrance / exit port provided with a terminal of the control unit is provided, and articles provided with temporary unique information are ejected to / from the entrance / exit port. Item 2. Automatic warehouse.